TRANSACTIOJS^S 



OF THE 



HERTFORDSHIRE T^ATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



,^^' Zoology '"V" 



f [p^6 3 ^ ( JUL 20 11^42 ' 



ADDRESS. 



CHALK WATER m HERTFOEDSHIRE. 



By the President, William Whitaker, B.A., E.R.S., Pres.G.S., 



Assoc. Inst. C. E. 



Delivered at the Anniversarij Meeting, 22)id Fehruary, 1898. 



Ladies and Geh'tlemen',- — 



In searcliing for a subject for the Address, which by an absurd 

 custom a President is expected to inflict on his suffering Society, 

 I have come, by a process of natural selection, to that of Chalk 

 water ; and this not merely because it may be of interest to 

 members of the Society, but more because it comes easier to 

 me than any other just now. It should be clearly understood, 

 however, that no attempt will be made to treat the matter syste- 

 matically, a proceeding that would need a book, and I am not by 

 nature a bookmaker of any sort. You will merely have sundry 

 notes and discursive remarks put before you, avoiding as a rule 

 contentious matter, so far as is possible indeed with a subject the 

 mere mention of which is enough to put some of our members 

 into their most aggTessive and disputatious spirit. 



I pui-pose to take you on a ramble by some of our springs and 

 swallow-holes. When we have thus seen something of water at 

 the surface, we may give some thought to underground water, 

 glancing at its variation in level, and considering the varying 

 composition of its mineral contents. My remarks will be restricted 

 to things that I have seen, and to matters that I have had to 

 consider, of late years. 



VOL. X. — part I. 1 



